Web Graphics

Opera 9.50 is out! This version is a very notable improvement on Merlin (Opera 9.0 - 9.27), and includes a large set of new or updated features such as full text history search, bookmark synchronisation (along with some other user data), the option to have tab cycling work like it does in Firefox through setting a preference, a redesigned interface, the already mentioned Dragonfly debugging tools, the Futhark scripting engine (Yay!), support for Mozilla JavaScript 1.5 getters and setters; and lots, lots more in the areas of accessibility, security, CSS, DOM, HTML, XML, SVG, MathML etc.

Download Opera 9.50 and read the Opera 9.50 change logs. An article about the changes directed more at web developers can be found at Dev.Opera: Opera 9.5 - the next generation of web standards.

OS X based web developers: If you setup custom virtually hosted domains by either hand editing your hosts file, or by using a tool like VirtualHostX, then you probably want to view your sites through Parallels for IE browser testing.
This info is elsewhere, but my current rule of thumb is: if it takes more than 2 google searches to figure it out, I’ll make a post about it. Here’s what to do:

1. Setup your site locally, editing your hosts file (/private/etc/hosts) or via VirtualHostX
2. Open Parallels if it’s not already open
3. Go to system prefs, open “network”, click on “Parallels NAT” and copy the IP address
4. This is also a good time to verify that you have “web sharing” turned on under “sharing” in system prefs
5. In Parallels, go to the Windows start menu and choose “run…”
6. Paste this in and hit “OK” to open your windows hosts file up: wordpad c:\\windows\\system32\\drivers\\etc\\hosts
7. Add entries to the bottom of the file, just like in your OS X version, but use the IP address you copied earlier from system prefs. The format is IP Address [tab] CustomDomain.
8. Click the save button, close the file
9. Log-out and log back into Windows

So this procedure has to be done for each custom virtually hosted domain you want to setup, but I think it’s worth it - and like so many other things, it’s easier to do than to explain.

It has been a while since I’ve posted here, but today there’s more than a good reason to pick up the habit again :-) Here at Opera (I’ve been working for Opera’s Tokyo office since last Summer), we’ve released a first alpha of our developer tools, also known as Opera Dragonfly.

Over at Dev.Opera, you find a first introduction to Dragonfly, and for those interested in the different components of this complex JavaScript app, there is a Dragonfly architecture article.

We’re planning to release more in-depth Dragonfly articles soon, but in the meantime, have fun, and let us know what you think in the comments of this post, or on the Dragonfly forum.